Rendell Hoagland, left, and his girlfriend Cindy Warren, right, are charged with attempted murder in the death of his daughter, Malinda Hoagland, middle, in West Caln Township, Pennsylvania. (Chester County District Attorney)
A father and his girlfriend are behind bars after his 12-year-old daughter died weighing just 50 pounds with several broken bones and was subjected to “evil and torment” for months, a Pennsylvania prosecutor said.
Rendell Hoagland, 52, and Cindy Warren, 45, of West Caln Township, about 46 miles west of Philadelphia, are charged with attempted murder in the death of Malinda Hoagland. Chester County District Attorney Christopher L. de Barrena-Sarobe said at a press conference Hoagland called West Caln police on Saturday after finding his daughter unconscious. Police responded to the home.
“Shockingly they found a 12-year-old girl who was broken and barely alive,” said de Barrena-Sarobe.
Paramedics rushed Malinda to the hospital but doctors pronounced her dead following organ failure, the prosecutor said.
“Our investigation found Rendell Hoagland and Cindy Warren subjected Malinda to evil and torment that no child should ever have to endure and they did it for months,” he said.
The DA said the girl weighed 50 pounds, had at least a half-dozen broken bones and was covered in bruises. Cops recovered home surveillance videos that allegedly showed Hoagland and Warren cuffed Malinda’s ankles to furniture and “verbally berated” her for “perceived slights.” As punishment they allegedly denied Malinda food “for days” and forced her to do strenuous exercises such as squats or running in place while shackled. Meanwhile, a 9-year-old who is Warren’s biological child lived in the house and was unharmed and treated well.
“I think we’ve all asked herself over the last few days when was the last time Malinda was loved?” de Barrena-Sarobe said.
Prosecutors are awaiting for more reports to come in before considering murder charges. According to de Barrena-Sarobe, Hoagland and Warren pulled Malinda from public school in the fall and placed her into a virtual charter school.
“In the coming days and weeks people are going to ask how could this happen to a 12-year-old in America?” de Barrena-Sarobe said. “I don’t have the answers right now. But what I can say immediately is that Melinda seemingly had incredibly limited access to the outside world from the moment she was pulled from school.”
The Coatesville Area School District released a statement to Law&Crime that the school had concerns about Malinda and alerted Children and Youth Services about those concerns. Shortly after that, her dad and his girlfriend pulled Malinda from the school.
“This news shakes our entire school community, and we are deeply saddened and upset by the horrific details of the abuse this child suffered,” Superintendent Catherine Van Vooren said.
Prosecutors also discovered that Warren deleted text messages between her and Hoagland from her phone. Cops arrested Hoagland and Warren on Monday and took them to jail on a $1 million bond.
Records show Warren was convicted in 2009 of child endangerment. Local NBC affiliate WCAU reported Warren the case stemmed from the death of her stepdaughter and abuse of her son. She reportedly lied about her then-husband’s role in the abuse.
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